Shankla Bartan

If you ever walk through Sarojini Nagar, you know how crowded it gets, especially around Babu Market. We are Shankla Bartan, located right at shop number 3 in that area. It’s a small space, but we pack it full of all kinds of utensils. From the floor to the ceiling, there are pots, pans, and plates stacked up. It’s a bit of a squeeze when more than two customers come in at once. Being in Babu Market means there is always noise—people haggling, other sellers shouting, and the general buzz of Delhi. We’ve been here in Sarojini for a long time. The shop isn’t fancy; it’s just a place where we sell everyday kitchen stuff. Sometimes the stacks of steel get a bit wobbly, but we know exactly where everything is kept. You might have to wait a minute while we pull a specific pressure cooker or a tawa from the bottom of a pile. We don’t have a website or anything like that. We just open the shutters in the morning and wait for the shoppers to wander in from the main market paths. It is a humble way to make a living, surrounded by the shine of stainless steel. If you are looking for shop 3, just ask anyone near the entrance of Babu Market; most of the old-timers know where the Bartan shop is. It’s just us doing our daily thing in the middle of the rush.